Key WA Labor powerbrokers are plotting leader Mark McGowan's demise and he won't lead the party to the next election, according to a high-ranking Labor source.

Despite a number of recent polls showing Mr McGowan is more popular with WA voters than Premier Colin Barnett, a Labor insider said members within the party were sharpening their knives after a January Newspoll showed Labor had a sniff of winning the next election.

"If I am elected premier, I am not going to be flashy, Mark McGowan said in an inteview. Photo: Bohdan Warchomij

The poll showed Labor holds a lead of 53 per cent to 47 per cent over the Barnett government on a two-party preferred basis.

The source said Mr McGowan had been a consistent and stable performer since taking over from Eric Ripper in 2012, but if the party was serious about snatching victory from the Liberals at the March 2017 election, it needed "a more dynamic leader".

"Mark hasn't really put a foot wrong, but now we are a serious chance of winning we need someone who will appeal to the electorate a bit more," the source said.

"And it wouldn't want to be done to close to the election."

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There were also frustrations within Labor ranks that Mr McGowan wasn't able to land more telling blows on the Liberal party last year, given the state's soaring debt.

And with Mr Barnett's popularity plummeting and the Liberals battling ongoing economic woes, the Labor insider said the party had smelled blood and was planning to act sooner rather than later to replace Mr McGowan.

Murdoch University political expert Ian Cook agreed the party needed someone with more "charisma" if it was going to win the election.

"Mark McGowan has been a very steady pair of hands, has done very few things wrong and much better in the last election than many, probably including me, expected," he told WAtoday.

"But someone with more charisma would make Labor more electable."

Dr Cook said Labor's current plight, reminded him of when federal Labor replaced Bill Hayden with Bob Hawke before the 1983 election, to make sure of that result.

"They need more than a drover's dog to win the next election in WA," he said.

"I think Labor has a real chance of winning the election. I think that those who run the party think so too. But it is no certainty and they know that if a new leader could bring another percent or so of the votes, then they will definitely be in the hunt."

Martin Drum, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations, disagrees Mr McGowan's head is on the chopping block.

"There's a saying in politics 'you don't have to be popular, you only have to be more popular than the alternative'," he said.

"It would be surprising to see a political party ditch an opposition leader who is more popular than the Premier. While the primary vote for Labor has fluctuated wildly in the most recent polls, MPs on both sides regularly say they expect the election to be a close one.

"Mr McGowan is also the longest serving opposition leader in Australia, which projects an image of consistency and stability. Changing a leader always brings significant internal ructions with it, and the rules for toppling a Labor leader in WA changed at the last conference."

If Labor does decide to replace its leader before the election, there is the problem of who would replace him.

There are rumours former foreign affairs minister Stephen Smith could be parachuted into the leadership role, but rank and file members wouldn't take kindly to someone being plucked outside the current cabinet.

The likely challengers are Ben Wyatt, Peter Tinley, Paul Papalia and Dr Cook even rates Michelle Roberts as a smokey.

Both have regained strong footings within the party since and the duo are renowned for being impressive performers in parliament as Labor's attack dogs.

Mr Tinley came close to taking the Labor leadership back in 2012, but rumours at the time were Labor powerbroker Joe Bullock told him to cool his heels.

But the former SAS soldier has had his own troubles. He resigned from a number of key portfolios in 2012 after a company his wife was a director of went belly up.

But he came back from his self-imposed exile in June, after he was promoted back to the shadow cabinet.

His army background and working class roots meant he was touted as a leader by former Labor powerhouse Jim McGinty when Mr Tinley first entered parliament in 2009.

Both Dr Drum and Dr Cook said there had to be viable alternative for Labor to roll Mr McGowan.

"Who in Labor could bring them that couple of percent they probably need to win the next election?," Dr Cook said. "Nobody jumps out at me."

"Ben Wyatt is an obvious name that comes up, but he's showing no interest in the role," Dr Drum said. "Other names such as Peter Tinley or Dave Kelly may be positioning themselves for a tilt, post-2017; if McGowan were to lose - then naturally the position would be wide open.

"One thing everyone in Labor will agree on is that 2017 will be McGowan's last shot, so the next 13 months will be critical."